Weare’s Chase Park beach cleaned up, ready for season

WEARE — Though broken glass closed the beach at Chase Park late last summer, the efforts to clean up the area have paid off and the popular swimming spot is open for the new season.

Last August, people using the park started finding glass in the sand at the town beach, located on Lake Horace. Assuming the glass was from bottles broken on the beach, residents and then the town’s department of public works tried to pick up the glass manually, but the more they raked the sand, the more glass they found, according to Town Administrator Naomi Bolton.The public works department soon realized that the load of sand they had brought in from the town pit to spruce up the beach must have somehow become contaminated with broken glass.

The loader used to pour sand into the dump truck is also used to move recycled glass at the town transfer station, and it’s possible there was still glass in the bucket when the beach sand was being loaded, Bolton said.Once the mistake was realized, the department tried to take up the sand they had put down, but because the beach went below the water line, permission was needed from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to perform further excavation.On Aug. 14, while the town awaited permission from the state to clean the area, the beach was closed for the season.In October, after water had been drawn down at the dam at Lake Horace, the department of public works set to work cleaning up the beach, removing sand above and below the water line.Recently, according to Tom Clow, chairman of the board of selectmen, the beach at Chase Park reopened for the new season.

“It’s ready to go,” said Clow. “The water level in the lake is back to normal, the staff has been hired, and the park is open on the weekends.”Chase Park is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through June, and will open daily in July and August.